On this page:
- Who is Teachers Health?
- How does the Teachers Health premium increase compare with Medibank, Bupa, HBF, NIB and HCF?
- How to save on your Teacher Health insurance premium
- Does Teachers Health get many complaints from members?
- How good is Teachers Health's gap cover?
- How many hospital agreements does Teachers Health have in each state?
- Does Teachers Health offer ambulance cover?
- Does Teachers Health offer family policies that cover adult children?
Who is Teachers Health?
The NSW Teachers Federation established the Teachers Health fund in 1954 to provide cost-effective private health care for members and their families. It launched the UniHealth fund exclusively in 2014 for people in the higher education community and their families.
Both Teachers Health and UniHealth are nonprofit funds and part of Members Health, an alliance of nonprofit and mutual health funds. Teachers Health also operates the Nurses & Midwives Health fund.
Phone: 1300 728 188
Website: teachershealth.com.au
UniHealth
Phone: 1300 367 906
Website: unihealthinsurance.com.au
Who can join Teachers Health?
Current or former teachers and academics, teacher aides or non-teaching support staff, with membership in their relevant union.
How does the Teachers Health premium increase compare with Medibank, Bupa, HBF, NIB and HCF?
Teachers Health will increase its health insurance premiums on 1 October 2023 by an average of 2.5%.
This compares with an average premium increase of 2.9% and is lower than the premium increases of the five major health funds:
- NIB – 2.72% (1 September 2023)
- Medibank – 2.9% (1 June 2023)
- HCF – 3.33% (1 September 2023)
- Bupa – 3.39% (1 October 2023).
HBF increased its premiums by 4.49% on 1 April 2023.
How to save on your Teacher Health insurance premium
If you want to check whether you're getting the best deal, you can review your health insurance at any time (in fact, it's good practice to do it at least once a year). To help you wade through the seemingly infinite options, our insurance experts developed a tool that lets you compare health insurance based on your needs so you can find cover that works for you, and potentially save yourself hundreds.
If you decide your current policy is good value for money and suits your needs, prepay your premium by 30 September. This is an excellent way to save money as it 'locks in' your current premium and means you'll avoid the 1 October price increase for up to 12 months.
Unlike some other funds, Teachers Health doesn't offer any discounts for prepaying your premium or paying your premium by direct debit.
Does Teachers Health get many complaints from members?
Teachers Health has a Medium complaints rating (this includes UniHealth).
When we score policies we give each fund a complaints rating, based on the number of complaints and serious disputes the Ombudsman deals with. We take into account the size of the fund, so big funds don't get automatically penalised for having more complaints. The ratings are Low, Medium and High. A Low rating is better than a High rating – it means the fund has fewer complaints and fewer serious disputes for its size.
How good is Teachers Health's gap cover?
A medical gap is the difference between Medicare's recommended fee and what your doctor actually charges for a treatment or service.
Health funds have agreements with particular doctors and hospitals to cover all of the gap, which are called 'no gap agreements', or part of that gap, which are called 'known gap agreements' (these will have lower out-of-pocket costs, usually less than $500).
Our graphic below displays the CHOICE gap rating, which takes into account the percentage of services where members either paid no gap or a known gap, compared to the state average.
Rating scale
- Well above average
- Above average
- Average
- Below average
- Well below average
How many hospital agreements does Teachers Health have in each state?
The benefit amount your fund pays you for hospital services depends not only on the type of cover you buy, but also whether your fund has an agreement with the hospital where you're treated.
The table below shows how many hospital agreements Teachers Health has in your state compared to the fund with the highest number (the industry maximum). Note that public hospitals don't have agreements with specific funds and are generally treated as though they're agreement hospitals.
Does Teachers Health offer ambulance cover?
All Teachers Health extras, hospital and combined policies have emergency ambulance cover.
Does Teachers Health offer family policies that cover adult children?
- Adult children are covered on family policies for free until they turn 21.
- Full-time students are covered on family policies for free until they turn 32.
- Adult children younger than 32 can be covered on extended family policies for an extra cost.
Does Teachers Health let you claim online or in-app?
You can claim using an app (iOS and Android) for all services. You can claim online for complementary therapy, chiropractic, general dental, optical, podiatry, physiotherapy, exercise physiology, speech therapy, occupational therapy, psychology, audiology, and dietitian services.
Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
